baseballfandomcom-20200222-history
May 20
1800s 1900s 1910s *1919 - Babe Ruth won a game pitching and batting as he hit his first career grand slam in the Boston Red Sox 6–4 victory over the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park. 1920s *1921 - Hal Newhouser is born in Detroit, Michigan. In 1939, Newhouser will make his major league debut for his hometown team the Detroit Tigers. A left handed pitcher, he will win 207 games over a 17-year career and will gain Hall of Fame honors in 1992. *1925 - The Cleveland Indians scored six runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the New York Yankees 10–9. Tris Speaker scored the winning run from first base on a single. 1930s *1932 - Paul Waner of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four doubles in one game to tie a major league record. 1940s *1941 - Lefty Grove of the Boston Red Sox won his 20th consecutive game at Fenway Park, the longest home-park streak in the major leagues, in the 4–2 victory over the Detroit Tigers. *1945 - One-armed outfielder Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns enjoyed an incredible day against the New York Yankees. Gray made three outstanding catches, collected four hits with two RBI, and scored the game-winning run during a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees. *1947 - The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 4–3, in a game that featured 22 hits – all singles). The Pirates had 12 singles, the Braves 10. *[[1948 - Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees hit for the cycle and collected six RBI in the 13–2 victory over the Chicago White Sox. DiMaggio hit two home runs, a triple, a double and a single, and narrowly missed another extra-base hit when Chicago left fielder Ralph Hodgin made a spectacular catch at the wall. 1950s *1951 - Richie Ashburn of the Philadelphia Phillies collected four hits in each game of a doubleheader as the Phillies swept the rival Pittsburgh Pirates, 17–0 and 12–4, at Forbes Field. *1953 - The Milwaukee Braves played their 13th home game and surpassed the attendance total for the previous season, when the franchise played in Boston. The crowd at County Stadium raised Milwaukee’s attendance to 281,278 for the current season. *1959 - The Detroit Tigers beat the New York Yankees, 13–6, to place New York in last place for the first time in 19 years. 1960s *1962 - In a doubleheader, Chicago Cubs rookie Ken Hubbs hit eight singles in eight at bats as the Cubs swept the Philadelphia Phillies, 6–4 and 11–2. *1968 - California Angels shortstop Jim Fregosi hit for the cycle during a 5–4 loss to the Boston Red Sox. The cycle was the second of Fregosi’s career, tying him with several other players for the major league record. 1970s *1971 - Martín Dihigo died in Cienfuegos, Cuba, at the age of 65. Over the course of his career, Dihigo made seamless transitions between all nine positions and played in several countries. As a hitter he led the Negro Leagues in home runs in 1926 and 1935; as a pitcher he won more than 300 games and once defeated Satchel Paige while touring Cuba. Elected to the American Hall of Fame in 1977, Dihigo became the only player in baseball history to be inducted to the American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican and Venezuelan Halls of Fame. *1978 - Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates hit a 535-foot home run off Montreal Expos pitcher Wayne Twitchell to highlight a 6–0 victory at Olympic Stadium. It was the longest home run in park history and was also Stargell's 407th career home run, tying him with Duke Snider on the career all-time list. 1980s *1983 - Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Steve Carlton passed Walter Johnson to move into second place on the all-time strikeout list. Carlton’s four strikeouts put him at 3,511, just 10 behind Nolan Ryan of the Houston Astros. Ryan had bettered Johnson’s record earlier in the month. *1984 - Roger Clemens earned his first major league victory as the Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 5–4. *1985 - A game between the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers scheduled for Municipal Stadium was postponed due to rain, representing the first rainout of the 1985 season. The cancellation marked the latest point that the first rainout of a season has taken place. A record 458 games had been played prior to the initial rainout. 1990s *1991: **Pete Runnels died in Pasadena, Texas, at the age of 63. A bright light on otherwise dismal teams, Runnels won two American League batting titles for the Boston Red Sox, was a three-time All-Star, and batted .291 over a 14-year career that also included stints with the Washington Senators and the Houston Colt .45s. **Jeff Reardon earned his 300th career save and Steve Lyons and Jack Clark hit home runs as the Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3–0. *1999 - Robin Ventura became the first major leaguer to hit grand slams in both games of a doubleheader, leading the New York Mets to a sweep over the Milwaukee Brewers, 11–10 and 10–1. on September 4, 1995, Ventura also hit two grand slams in a single game while playing for the Chicago White Sox. 2000s *2001 - Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit two home runs in the 11–6 loss to the Atlanta Braves, giving him a total of five homers in two games, becoming the 23rd player in major league history to do so. *2006 - A uniform worn by Joe DiMaggio in his final World Series was sold for $195,500 during the second day of an auction of his memorabilia. Yesterday, DiMaggio's 1947 American League MVP Award plaque was sold for $281,750, which included a 15 percent buyer's premium. It was his third MVP award, but it was the only plaque. The two-day auction featured more than 1,000 items of DiMaggio memorabilia also included a leather-bound album featuring autographs from DiMaggio's New York Yankees teammates and members of the Boston Red Sox, a typed note signed by Frank Sinatra, an a signed photo of DiMaggio's one-time wife, Marilyn Monroe. The aution was held by Hunt's Auctions Inc. in New York City. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. *2006: **Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit a home run in an interleague play game against the Oakland Athletics, tying his home run count with that of Babe Ruth at 714. The ball was hit at the A's McAfee Coliseum against pitcher Brad Halsey, a left-handed pitcher. Because of the interleague play, Bonds was playing as the designated hitter rather than in the outfield, his normal field of play. **In interleague play, Josh Beckett hit a solo home run, an RBI single, and pitched seven solid innings to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Philadelphia Phillies, 8–4, at Citizens Bank Park. Because the designated hitter isn't used in National League parks during interleague play, regular Red Sox DH David Ortiz started at first base. Beckett (6-1) posted his third straight win and give AL East-leading Boston its 10th victory in 13 games. He also became the first Red Sox pitcher to hit a home run since Marty Pattin on September 26, 1972. **Russell Branyan's two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning boosted the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 4–3 victory over the Florida Marlins in an interleague play. It marked Tampa Bay's second straight victory in its last at-bat. Aubrey Huff was the hero yesterday, clubbing a game-winning solo home run off Yusmeiro Petit to lead off the bottom of the 10th in a 5–4 final. This is the eighth time this season the Marlins have lost in their opponents' final at-bat. Florida has lost four straight games when entering the ninth inning with a lead, tying the major league record set by Tampa Bay in May 2002. *2007: **Kevin Youkilis hits the shortest home run in Red Sox history, a 321-foot shot that wrapped around the Pesky pole. Births *1879 - Jake Thielman, pitcher (d. 1928) *1890 - Doc Ayers, pitcher (d. 1968) *1891 - Joe Harris, infielder/outfielder (d. 1959) *1897 - Wilcy Moore, pitcher (d. 1963) *1900 - George Grantham, infielder (d. 1954) *1904 - Pete Appleton, pitcher (d. 1974) *1914 - Stan Benjamin, outfielder *1921 - Hal Newhouser, Hall of Fame pitcher (d. 1998) *1931 - Ken Boyer, All-Star infielder and manager (d. 1982) *1946 - Bobby Murcer, All-Star outfielder *1963 - David Wells, All-Star pitcher *1965 - Todd Stottlemyre, pitcher *1976 - Ramón Hernández, All-Star catcher *1977 - Steve Slemle, outfielder *1978 - Wilson Valdéz, infielder *1979 - Jayson Werth, outfielder *1980 - Austin Kearns, outfielder Deaths *1971 - Martín Dihigo, Hall of Fame Negro League player (b. 1905) *1983 - Fred Schulte, outfielder (b. 1901) *1991 - Pete Runnels, All-Star infielder (b. 1928)